You can't go back to High School
by rholou
Summary: An old friend of Dean's needs help, which suprised Sam because he didn't realise Dean had any old friends. Turns out there's a lot about Dean Sam didn't know. Later on in the story there will be hurt boys and angst, I promise.
1. Chapter 1

DISCLAIMER: If wishes were Winchesters…..

SPOILERS: Not sure yet but I will probably reference most things at some point (cus I like to steal from them ) so just assume there will be spoilers for everything so far.

Chapter One

Dean pulled the car up at a stop light and watched the two girls walk across the road in front of him. He turned to where Sam sat beside him and with a leery grin said "dude check it out, high school girls."

Sam looked at where Dean was looking and then back at Dean incredulously "exactly Dean _High _school girls." The emphasis he put on those words totally different from his brother.

Dean actually had the decency to look a little bit embarrassed for once before covering by saying "every mans fantasy dude."

"Not every mans Dean" Sam said slightly disgusted by how much of a letch his older brother could be sometimes. "Anyway you better keep those fantasies to yourself on this job otherwise you might end up in a whole different type of trouble."

Dean gave his brother a sideways glance for a moment wondering if Sam really thought he would stoop that low and was relieved to see Sam grinning back at him, obviously trying to wind him up.

Deciding to let it drop Dean changed the subject. "So you really don't remember this place huh?"

Sam shook his head peering out the passenger side window at the unfamiliar town trying to jog his memory. "We stayed in a lot of towns Dean." he reminded the other man his tone slightly sad as he remembered their unconventional childhood.

Dean looked over at Sam when he heard the sadness in his tone and knew that Sam was remembering what it was like for them growing up. Moving from town to town, never really staying long enough to form attachments to anyone before their dad's obsession moved them onto another hunt, another town. He looked out of the window himself but unlike Sam this place was familiar to him. He remembered this place not because of the town itself but because of one very special person. That was the reason they were back here now.

His mind went back to that time and he could see Sam as he was back then, that was the year he'd gone from being short and chubby to tall and lean. All in the space of about six months.

Their dad had brought them into town rented a dingy one bedroom apartment, enrolled them both in school then took off after a lead all in the same day. Things had been okay at first but when John had rang to say he'd be gone at least another month Dean had known that the money he'd left them was not going to last that long. But when John asked Dean had lied and said everything was fine and not to worry about them. He made sure Sam had enough to eat. God that summer it was like he was a bottomless pit, always hungry. Sure sometimes that meant Dean didn't eat but he was the big brother so it was okay. But even then the money was fast disappearing and as a last resort Dean found a job. It was just washing dishes at the local diner, but it meant that as soon as Sam was home from school and settled Dean had to go to work and most nights he didn't get back until the early hours. He'd hated leaving Sam alone but couldn't see an alternative.

The long hours, lack of food and also if he was honest, the constant worry about their father started to take it's toll on him and he'd caught a cold. Dean never got sick, but he'd spent a little of their money on some medicine and tried to shrug it off. All of this meant that school was way down his list of priorities. He made sure he attended, after all he didn't want to call any undue attention to them but he found himself dozing off in more than one class. Most of his teachers ignored it, probably glad that they didn't have another unruly student trying to disrupt class. But one teacher wasn't willing to let it go, Mrs Johnson.

Snsnsnsnsnsnsnsnsn

It was the last lesson of the day and the sound of the bell woke him from his half doze. He'd sat up with a start and then wiped his nose on his sleeve. He picked his unread text book up off the desk and joined the other students making their way out of the classroom and into the relative freedom of the hallway when a voice called him back.

"Dean could you stay a moment." He slumped his shoulders in defeat and turned to face the woman. Despite the situation he couldn't help giving the older woman the once over. For someone in her early thirties she wasn't half bad he thought taking in her long brown hair, blue eyes and impressively long legs. Then he saw the look of anger in her eyes and any lustful thoughts were banished.

She waited until the last student had left and shut the door before turning to him and speaking again.

"Look Dean I don't know what's going on with you at the minute but you have a responsibility to this school…."

Deans harsh laugh cut her off but there was no humour in it. "Responsibility" he bit back "you're joking right?"

"No Dean I'm not. I know you're only sixteen but that's plenty old enough for you to be acting a little more adult."

"I don't have time for this right now." Dean said wearily. His eyes had a glassy sheen to them when he looked at her and she realised that he must be sick.

"If you're not well then maybe you shouldn't be in school. Maybe I should ring you're parents get them to come pick you up."

"No Dean" said a little too quickly for her liking. "it's just my dad and he's busy at the minute." he tried to explain.

"Even so I'm sure he'll want to know that you're sick, Dean you were falling asleep in class today for god's sake."

"I'm fine, I've really got to get going or my little brother will wonder where I got to." he said starting to walk towards the door.

"We're not finished here Dean." she snapped at him a little annoyed at his belligerent attitude.

"Please I really need to get going" he pleaded his eyes actually looked like they were filling up in his desperation to get out of there. She watched as he swayed unsteadily on his feet and quickly guided him to a chair.

"Dean what is it?" she asked the weary young man as he slumped in the seat and put his head in his hands.

"I don't think I can do it anymore." She barely heard his muffled reply.

"Do what?" she asked gently.

"Everything." her heart broke when she heard the pain in that one word.

She stood there for a minute unsure of how to respond when she saw his shoulders start to shake and she realised that he was crying. She immediately stepped closer and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. For a minute she thought he was going to pull away and then he let himself relax into her touch.

"It's okay Dean " she reassured him " take your time."

Dean didn't know what it was , probably a combination of things really but he decided to trust her and before he knew it he was telling her everything. Absolutely everything, Mom, Dad , Sammy and the way they lived. The evil that was out there. He didn't once look up as he spilled his guts, didn't want to see the look in her eyes. He didn't know why he was telling her all this, he knew he'd regret it when he was done but once he started he couldn't seem to stop until it was all out.

Mrs Johnson looked down at the boy before her, a look of horror in her eyes as he bared his soul to her. She stood there silently and just let him speak. He finished what he was saying, trailing off mid sentence as if he'd just run out of steam and just sat there staring at the floor. A moment later he raised his hazel-green eyes to meet her blue ones. The look she saw there told her exactly what she needed to do.

Dean looked up at the older woman fearing what he'd see in her eyes, disbelief and shock probably. She looked back at him for a while, her expression unreadable and then she spoke. "I'm going to help you Dean."

She made him tell her about his dad being out of town, looking after Sammy and the job he'd took.

"Well the first thing you're going to do is quit that job." she told him.

"But we need the money for food." Dean started to protest.

"You let me worry about that." she interrupted.

Suddenly Dean glared at her and she could see the strength that had held him up so far shining out at her "we're not charity cases" he snapped, his eyes flashing there anger.

"Let's put it this way Dean" she explained equally as ferocious "you accept my help or I call social services." she felt mean threatening him like that but she knew that it would take a lot for him to be willing to accept her help.

Dean looked at her in shock before finally grinning up at her " god you're scary" he said.

She found herself grinning back at him, realising that this was the first time she had ever seen him smile and realising how privileged she was to be able to see it.

So that was how it began. One of the best and strangest friendships Dean had ever had. The next few weeks she'd supplied them with groceries and also made sure Dean got some better medicine for his cold. He found himself hanging out with her during lunch break and in free periods. She wanted to know all about the supernatural things out there and Dean enjoyed telling her about the hunts he'd been on with hid dad and all the stuff that others hunters had told him. She couldn't believe that there was this whole other world out there that she knew nothing about, but he never once thought that she didn't believe him.

Two months to the day that he'd left them there John came back. Dean hadn't even got a chance to say goodbye before his father had them packed up and was ready to move on. He had however sent a letter a few weeks later when they had settled for a short while again.

It was more than ten years ago now but he still kept in touch. The letters had been sporadic due to him being constantly on the move but once they had both gotten email addresses it had been a lot easier. It was a tie to a life he wished he could have had and he wasn't willing to let it go entirely. The didn't write that often now, just once or twice a year which is why when he'd seen her name in his inbox he'd opened it immediately. He'd read the message twice before turning to Sam and saying " we've got a job, get packed we're leaving in ten minutes."

Sam had looked at him in surprise but still done what he'd asked and now here they we're. He knew Sam was itching to ask but he wasn't quite ready to reveal those memories just yet. In fact he knew that when he did tell Sam about Mrs Johnson he'd keep some things to himself. Sam didn't need to know everything. He already resented their dad for so much of their childhood and he didn't even know the half of it and Dean wanted to keep it that way.

"It's green." Sam's voice jolted him from his memories.

"What?" he asked startled.

"The light, it's green." Sam pointed to the traffic signal above them smirking at the startled look on his older brothers face.

"Oh" was all Dean said before putting his foot down on the accelerator and driving on.

Sam watched his older brother carefully wondering what was going on his mind. He knew it wouldn't be long until he had some answers but knowing Dean it wouldn't be the full story. Just as much as Dean wanted him to know. He was looking forward to meeting this woman, this Mrs Johnson. He got the feeling it was going to be interesting.

Snsnsnsnsnsnsnsnsn


	2. Chapter 2

DISCLAIMER: If I say I own them does that mean they'll try to sue me. Cus if that happens I might get to meet them right! So yes I own them, see you in court.

A/N: I really hope someone other than me is reading this.

Chapter Two

Dean pulled the Chevy to a stop in front of a fairly impressive looking house and Sam whistled as he looked at it." Nice house" he said quirking his lip in awe.

"Yeah she moved since I was last here" Dean admitted also quite impressed by the size of the house. " Not bad for a teachers salary."

"So Mrs Johnson then." Sam fished for more info. "She was your teacher for a couple of months."

"Yes."

"And you kept in touch with her for ten years?"

"Yeah, so."

"You've got to admit that's a little out of character for you." Sam continued to push.

"Well maybe you don't know me as well as you thought you did." Dean was unable to resist biting back.

Sam raised his eyebrows at this comment. " Come on man you've got to give me more than that."

"Look she helped me out back then, I liked her." Dean confessed.

"You're really not going to tell me anything else?"

"No probably not." Dean couldn't help grinning when he heard his younger brother sigh at that. God he lived for moments like this, loved winding up the little geek. Besides he'd already decided that he wasn't going to let Sam know how bad things were for him sometimes growing up. He wasn't about to change his mind on that any time soon.

Sam looked at his older brothers grinning face and knew that he wouldn't get anything more from him right now. He pushed open the passenger side door and headed for the house. Maybe meeting this Mrs Johnson would answer a few more of the questions that were buzzing around inside his head.

Dean watched Sam striding purposeflly towards the house and quickly climbed out of the car to follow him. He had to jog for a couple of steps to catch up but managed to get to the front door just ahead of him. Giving Sam a what the hell look he reached out and rang the bell. Sam just gave him his stubborn look back and they both stood and waited in silence for the door to be answered.

They were only stood there for a few moments before they heard the locks on the door being disengaged. Dean suddenly felt nervous. Then immediately felt like an idiot for feeling that way. What did he have to be nervous about, this woman was a friend. Maybe that's the problem he admitted to himself he didn't have many actual friends and it had been a long time since he'd seen her. A lot had happened to him in the last ten years, he'd changed a lot. Then again she probably had too.

As the door swung open he realised how wrong he was. She hadn't changed at all, in fact it was like she hadn't aged a day. Her brown hair was still long and shiny and her blue eyes still sparkled warmly.

She may not have changed much but when she gave them both a blank look he was suddenly aware of how much he had. The tall ruggedly handsome man stood in front of her didn't look much like the slight almost pretty sixteen year old she'd once known. She looked at the two of them in confusion for a few minutes and started to say "Can I help you?" when something stopped her.

Dean felt her staring intently into his eyes for a minute and then saw realisation dawn. " Dean" she gasped and before he could react she'd wrapped her arms around him and was hugging him tight.

Sam watched from the side in amusement and then wonder when he realised that Dean wasn't pulling away in discomfort, in fact, no it couldn't be could it, he was hugging her back. Sam felt like putting his hand on his jaw to stop it from hitting the floor. He was tempted to whisper the word Christo in his brothers ear but managed to restain himself. He was being ridiculous he realised, but still this was a different Dean to the one he knew. Maybe Dean was right maybe he didn't know his brother as well as he thought he did.

Snsnsnsnsnsnsnsn

Mrs Johnson or Heidi as she'd insisted they call her, after all they weren't kids anymore, led them into the kitchen and made them sit down at the table whilst she'd got them all coffee. They all sat there in awkward silence for a moment before they all spoke at once.

"Nice house." Sam.

"How have you been?" Heidi.

"You need our help?" Dean.

They all laughed and suddenly everyone felt a little more comfortable.

"So how have you been?" Heidi asked again.

Dean glanced at Sam before answering "It's been a tough couple of months" he admitted.

Sam couldn't believe Dean had just been that honest. He was never that honest.

"I was sorry to hear about your Dad." Heidi smiled sympathetically at them both. Sam suddenly wondered just how much this woman knew about them.

"Yeah thanks. Same goes for your husband. That must have been quite a shock ,right out of the blue like that."

"Yes it was" Heidi admitted quietly. "He was only 41, brain anyeurism." she explained to Sam what she'd already told Dean in a previous email. " One day he was fine laughing and joking as normal and then the next he was gone. I was in shock for a while I mean he was my whole life, I'd have given anything to have him back."

Sam shot a guilty look at Dean when she said this but Dean pretended he hadn't seen it.

"Still" Heidi continued "as sad as it is life goes on. I've got my students and each day gets a little easier." she smiled sadly.

Sam nodded in understanding.

"This house was paid for by husbands life insurance." Heidi admitted in reference to Sam's earlier comment and he suddenly felt like an insensitive jerk.

"I'm sorry I didn't know." Sam tried to apologize bur Heidi waved it off as if it was of no consequence.

"It's fine" she reassured him.

"So you said you needed our help?" Dean asked as he picked a cookie up of the plate she'd set out and took a big bite.

"Yes" she smiled at them before continuing. " At least I hope you can help."

"Go ahead" Sam nodded encouragingly.

"Well I'm pincipal now and I also look after the drama department." she started to explain. " We're in the middle of rehearsing the annual musical and some strange stuff has started happening,"

"What kind of strange stuff" Dean said round a mouthful of cookie, much to Sam's disgust.

" Well it was just small things at first" she continued smiling at the look on the younger brothers face. "Missing props, minor mishaps. That is until last week."

"What happened last week?" Sam was unable to stop himself leaning forward in his chair.

"Someone got hurt."

Sam and Dean looked at each other then back at her.

"How?" they both said at once.

"Lisa, the lead in fact well at least she was, got hit by a lighting rig. She broke two ribs and an arm."

"Well that's awful but it doesn't really sound like our king of thing." Sam frowned. "I mean accidents happen right, it's not that unusual for a lighting rig to fall. Unfortunate yes but not really supernatural."

" But that's just the thing" she brushed her hair back from her face and continued. " It didn't fall on her. It was on the floor at the time. I've had three different students tell me they saw it lift up off the floor on its own and fly across the room to hit her."

"Okay I take it back" Sam admitted " It does sound like our kind of thing."

"Well first things first we're going to need access to the school." Dean said contemplating the two cookies that were left on the plate as if deciding if the five he'd already had were enough or wether one more would just look greedy.

" I thought you might say that. One of you could perhaps help me out with the musical, I could say you were a new TA."

"Sam did theatre in high school." Dean immediately volunteered his younger brother. " Plus he's the college geek in the family." Dean wanted to make damn sure he didn't get that gig, god he couldn't think of anything worse than spending his time with drama geeks all day.

"Okay fine." Sam said glaring at his big brother. " But what about you what are you going to go in as?"

"Oh I've got something in mind" Heidi said grinning at Sam

As Dean put the last cookie in his mouth he suddenly felt uncomfortable at the glint the say in her eye.

Snsnsnsnsnsnsnsnsn

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

DISCLAIMER: No I don't own them. In fact I think it's morally wrong to own people. But can I hire them for the afternoon.

SPOILERS: Pretty much assume that anything might come up.

A/N: Yeah I got reviews. Also kudos to indusgirl1313 for guessing right.

Chapter Three

"Hey you" Sam shouted down the crowded hallway. Several people turned around in response wondering if he was talking to them. A couple of the girls on seeing the good looking young man stood in the theatre's doorway really hoped that he was. The only person who didn't look around was in fact the person he wanted. Black bin bag in hand he continued to make his way down the corridor.

Sam tried again " hey buddy."

At this the other man froze and slowly turned his head to look at Sam. When his hazel-green eyes met his he had to stop himself flinching. " I could do with a hand in here, I'm sorry I don't know your name." Sam tried to explain himself.

The other man stalked over to where he stood speaking loud enough so everyone could hear. " No problem what can I help you with? The names Dean by the way."

"Dean great, there are some trash cans in here that need emptying if you don't mind." By this time Dean had reached where Sam was and followed him into the theatre. As the door swung shut behind them Sam tried to suppress a grin at the sight of his brother in overalls. Too late Dean saw the look of glee on his brothers face.

" Don't forget Sammy, paybacks a bitch." he hissed as he passed him. Sam quickly wiped the smile off his face and led his brother over to where two overflowing trash cans sat.

"This sucks" Dean grumbled at his little brother, all the while keeping up the pretence of emptying the trash for the benefit of the group of students he could see huddled on the other side of the room.

"Yeah well maybe next time you won't be so quick to volunteer me for something." Sam couldn't resist the dig. Dean just glared at him.

"So did you find anything yet?" Dean asked.

"Actually yeah I think so."

"That was quick" Dean said impressed.

Sam nodded " if you get a chance take a look at those props over there. They've got some occult symbols drawn all over them."

"Maybe there for the musical." Dean suggested, a little bit disappointed that that's all Sam had come up with.

"Something tells me Grease doesn't really have much call for summoning rituals." Sam defended himself.

" Grease really" Dean was definitely too excited by that idea. "Travolta was the man in that movie, and that leather jacket was so cool."

"You've seen Grease" if Sam raised his eyebrows any higher they were in danger of disappearing over the top of his head.

"Yeah well I had to pass the time in those motels after you'd gone to sleep somehow." Dean defended himself. " Hey did you know they had to sew Olivia Newton John into those pants for that final scene."

Sam walked away from his brother shaking his head. Dean watched him go a mock look of hurt on his face "Umm bad Sandy now she was hot." he couldn't resist shouting after him.

Sam pretended he hadn't heard him and kept walking.

The group of students looked over at Deans shouted comment and a couple of the guys grinned.

"Oooh Beck check out that guy." a young girl of about sixteen nudged her friend in the ribs drawing her attention to the guy emptying trash the other side of the theatre.

Beck looked to where her friend was pointing and then looked back at her. Her nose wrinkled in disgust " eww he's a janitor."

"So, he's still hot." her friend replied.

Beck shook her head as if to disagree but took another sly look and had to admit to herself that her friend had a point.

Just then Sam stepped into her eye line distracting her. Now here was a guy who was hot, she thought to herself smiling shyly up at him. Sam returned the smile and then sat down on the floor in the middle of them.

"Well guys you're going to have to bear with me I'm afraid, I'm kind of new at this."

"What did you do before this Mr Winston?" one of the group piped up, it was a small boy of about fourteen and Sam couldn't quite remember his name for the minute. Heidi had introduced him to the group half an hour ago, but there were about 8 kids here at the minute and Sam was struggling to remember all their names. He had wandered around the theatre keeping out of the way and looking for information whilst they'd been setting up in the background but then Heidi's assistant had shown up and she'd had to go to the office to deal with a phone call. She'd apologised for leaving him on his own but said she'd be back as soon as she could. So now he was just stalling for time, trying not to let the kids know that he actually had no idea what he was doing.

"I was at college until a year ago." Sam told him and realised that all of the kids were watching him now. God he didn't realise that he was so interesting. "Since then I've been on a road trip with my brother.

"Cool." the kid who'd originally asked the question responded.

"God I'd hate that." one of the other kids, a young girl with long blond hair that had a purple streak straight down the middle of it, muttered. Sam vaguely recalled her name as Stephanie. " I don't think I could stand to spend that much time with my brother."

Sam very much aware that Dean had walked closer to where they were all sitting, carefully said "we have our moments but on the whole we get along great." He risked a quick glance over at his older brother and was pleased to see a surprised smile on his face.

"What kind of car did you do it in?" one of the older teens asked. Sam defiantly remembered that this guys name was Bobby, after all who could forget that right.

"67 Chevy Impala." Sam replied.

"Nice. "Bobby grinned. Sam didn't even need to look at Dean to know his smile had just doubled.

"Is that your car or your brothers.?" Bobby asked. Sam couldn't resist having a little fun here.

"It's mine." he heard Dean spluttering and then trying to cover up his outburst with a cough.

"How old are you?" another of the girls asked, her cheeks flushing red when he looked at her.

"Twenty four." he noticed one of the girls, Beck he thought her name was nudging the girl at her side. They frantically whispered for a few minutes before she blurted out " Lara wants to know if you have a girlfriend."

" No I don't." Lara defended herself, " you're the one who said he was hot."

Both girls were now blushing ten shades of red and Sam laughed a little self-consciously.

"Well do you?" Stephanie asked boldly after everyone was done laughing at the two girls.

"Not anymore no." Sam admitted.

"Did she dump you ?" Randy, a tall gangly boy with bright red hair said a little smugly. All the attention the girls were giving this guy was really starting to annoy him.

" No she died."

Dean glanced across at his brother in concern when he said that, hearing how much that still hurt him to say.

Luckily anymore awkward questions were avoided by the return of Heidi.

"Okay then let's get back to it" she said walking towards them rubbing her hands. "Jake" she addressed the small boy who'd asked Sam the first question "can you go set up the music please?" he nodded and scurried off to the sound desk at the back of the theatre.

"Mrs Johnson" Stephanie walked over to where she was stood. "you still haven't said who's going to play Sandy now."

"Oh yes how silly of me. Everybody Beck will now be the lead."

"What ?" the word was shouted by the only girl who Sam had yet to hear speak. She was quite tall with long black hair and bright green eyes. She was probably very pretty but it was hard to tell under all that Goth make-up. " You're kidding right." she was practically screeching now.

"No Celia I don't think…."

" But you said…." Celia trailed off. " Oh what's the point." she shouted and stormed out.

" Good riddance freak." a good looking seventeen year old boy said under his breath. Not quietly enough though because Heidi heard him.

"I don't want to hear that from you Steven" she admonished.

"Sorry." but didn't look particularly contrite.

Dean met Sam's eyes over the crowd of people and they both raised there eyebrows at each other.

Dean pointed at his watch and Sam shook his head to let him know he didn't know how long he'd be stuck there. Dean sighed to himself. It looked like he was going to have to go back to the motel alone and start the research himself.

Picking up the now full bags of trash he left the theatre, he threw the bags in the dumpster on his way to his car. He really hated research, but he consoled himself with the fact that at least Sam would have to walk back to the motel. He pulled out of the school parking lot with a smile on his face.

Ssnsnsnsnsnsnsnsn

A/N I know this was a really boring chapter but I needed it to introduce the characters and to set up what's to come. I'm not sure how much I'm actually going to use them other than as an audience to what's to going to happen but I wanted to at least give them names. I promise there will be action, hurt boys and angst to come, if you stick with me.


	4. Chapter 4

DISCLAIMER: After consulting with my financial adviser it would appear I can't afford them. So no I don't own them and never will.

SPOILERS: Just assume it may all come up at some point.

A/N: Anyone still reading after that last chapter thank you and now hopefully this one will be better.

Chapter Four

Heidi pulled up outside the motel the boys were staying at and smiled at her tired looking passenger. Sam had said he would walk but Heidi had insisted on giving him a lift. "Harder work than you were expecting right?"

Sam nodded wearily "I forgot what High School could be like" he admitted.

"It can be hard work, but it's very rewarding. After Jeff died I don't know what I'd have done without the kids. They really helped me through it you know. Gave me something to focus on." Sam found himself thinking back to just after Jess had died and how the hunt had done just that for him, not to mention Dean.

"Yeah I think I know what you mean. But still the constant questions, they've got to drive you crazy right."

Heidi chuckled at this. " I remember Dean telling me of a certain younger brother who was really bad for that. He told me you wore him out sometimes with all your questions. Especially when he struggled with a lot of the answers himself. From what he told me I got the feeling your father was never very open with you about certain things, at least when you were both younger."

Sam found himself listening to her in wonder. Just how much had Dean confided in this woman. He tried to remember what Dean had been like at sixteen but to his shame couldn't. All he could remember from that time was how he'd always felt hungry and Dean's constant jokes about his appetite.

Heidi trailed off when she saw Sam staring wistfully out of the window. She suddenly realised that these weren't her secrets to tell.

"Are you sure you boys don't want to come back to mine for a proper meal?" she asked again but Sam just shook his head.

"No I'm beat and knowing Dean he's already eaten. I'll see you tomorrow okay."

"Okay, oh and tell Dean that he'll need to clean the toilets tomorrow, you know just for appearances sake."

Sam grinned at this anticipating Dean's reaction when he told him that little bit of news. He hadn't been overly happy about the trash duties of the day. Still Sam couldn't wait to see him with a toilet brush in his hand.

Still smiling at the thought he climbed out of the car and gave Heidi a wave as she drove off.

He pulled his own key out his pocket and entered the motel room they'd rented earlier in the day. The TV was on but there was no sign of Dean. Sam looked around before the tell tale sound of the shower running told him exactly where his brother was. Just then he heard Dean break into song. He was actually quite good but no way was Sam ever going to tell him that. The guys ego was big enough already. Sam suddenly realised what it was Dean was singing and groaned to himself. He was never going to get that song out of his head now.

Dean stood under the steaming hot water and felt the grime of the day being washed away. He rubbed the soap down his arms and then up to his shoulders. He flinched as it passed over the puckered scar on his left shoulder, not that it hurt anymore of course but it brought up memories that he really didn't want. Trying to clear his mind of the vision of his little brother pointing a gun at him he started singing the first song that came into his head.

"Summer lovin' happened so fast, summer lovin' had me blast." he sang at the top of his lungs making sure he made his voice nice and high on the Sandy parts.

He stood under the water until he felt it start to cool off, it would serve Sam right if he had to take a cold shower after he'd delighted in Deans job today, and then turned it off and climbed out. Grabbing a towel he rubbed himself dry and then quickly donned the boxers and t-shirt he liked to sleep in .He kept the towel in his hand and continued to rub his short hair dry.

Still humming to himself he opened the bathroom door to be faced by his geek of a brother looking at him like he was possessed.

"Oh um hi Sam." Dean's face reddened "how long have you been back?" . Please say just now Dean thought desperately .

"Since the first verse." Sam smirked at him.

"Oh that, that was just…" Dean searched his mind for an excuse as to why he'd just been singing one of the lamest songs in the world, including the girl parts.

"No it was good." Sam mocked him." You should try out for the musical, we're short a couple of pink ladies."

Dean threw the damp towel in his hand at the grinning idiot but Sam had been expecting that and grabbed it mid air. "God you even throw like a girl. You know I always knew this hard demeanour of yours was all an act, your just as much of a geek as you make me out to be."

Dean scowled at Sam for a minute before saying in an over nonchalant way " whatever dude, you're just jealous of my amazing talent."

"Yeah right Dean that's it." Sam gave that high pitched laugh that he knew irritated Dean so much. " Anyway other than auditioning for Broadway have you done anything useful with your time."

"Yes as a matter of fact." Dean said smugly. "I looked up some of them symbols whilst you were off chatting up school girls."

"I was not _chatting_ anyone up."

"Oh come off it I saw you before I left, those girls were all over you. You loved it."

"You're the one with the school girl fantasy, you perve." Sam reminded him.

Dean refused to rise to the bait and instead told Sam what his research had dug up.

"So they are occult symbols, used for summoning."

"Yup pretty nasty black magic in fact. The kind of spirits these things summon are seriously bad, like ancient evil type bad. And to top it off the only people able to summon them are witches."

"That's just great." Sam allowed himself to flop back onto his bed, putting his hands behind his head and staring up at the water stains on the ceiling. " So not only have we got some spirits to hunt, but we've got a witch to deal with as well."

"You got it Sammy boy."

"Well it seems to be targeting the kids in the musical so far, so I'm guessing it's someone not too happy with them."

"Duh." Dean rolled his eyes. " And you know who didn't seem that happy today."

"Celia."

"If that was the Goth chick's name then yeah."

"But she can't be more than fifteen." Sam protested. " That's pretty young to be getting into something this heavy."

"Well they say Buffy had a bad influence on kids, you know giving them all sorts of ideas about how cool this occult stuff is." Dean joked " Always knew TV was bad for kids minds, gives them a warped view of the world if you ask me."

"You know you watched a lot of TV growing up." Sam pointed out.

"And your point is?" Dean raised his eyebrows at where Sam laid out on the bed but Sam missed the look.

"Don't you think she's a little obvious?"

"It's high school Sam what do you expect. Anyway we'll check it out tomorrow. From what I read the witch doing this will have one of the symbols tattooed on their wrist so they can control this thing. We just need to check out this Celia chick and see if she's sporting any cool underage tats."

"If she is how are we going to break her control, I'm not going to kill a fifteen year old no matter how evil she is."

"We'll worry about that when we get that far." Dean dismissed Sam's worries. " I'll keep close to the theatre tomorrow just in case you need back up. I'm sure Heidi can find some excuse for me to be there other than emptying the trash again."

Sam tried to keep a straight face where he was laying on the bed when he remembered what it was he needed to tell the older hunter.

"Oh yeah about that." He said getting up off the bed and heading to the bathroom. " Heidi told me to tell you that you'll need to clean the toilets tomorrow." He quickly pulled the door shut but he still heard Dean's outraged yell from behind him.

" You've got to be freaking kidding me."

Snsnsnsnsnsnsn

TBC

A/N: I really thought I would be at the action part by now but I can't seem to shut the boys up. They just like winding each other up so much. It looks like I'm along for the ride as much as you. I hope you're still with me. Plus apologies for the gratuitous shower scene but it wouldn't be a fanfic without one now would it.


	5. Chapter 5

DISCLAIMER: If I owned them I would send them to the house of everyone who is reading this for a day. No I don't own them but now I'm not the only one who's sad about that.

SPOILERS: As I've said before assume everything might come up. After all I've got to pad my stories out somehow.

A/N : Thank you to everyone who has reviewed and or added this story to their alert. Suddenly I feel under pressure. I hope I don't let anyone down. This one's a bit long by the way.

Chapter Five

Dean dropped Sam off a couple of blocks from the school, after all they weren't supposed to know each other they couldn't really show up in the same car. Rehearsals for the play weren't going to be happening until later in the afternoon so Sam intended to spend the day scoping out the theatre and seeing if he could find anything else out about Celia. He still wasn't sure what they we're going to do with her if she was behind it all, but he was determined that he wanted to be sure they had the right person.

He spent the morning checking over everything in the rather large room that served as the school theatre. The seats for the audience all sat on tiered runners so that when they weren't in use they could be pushed back against the back wall. This meant that the area in front of the stage could be left free so the props department could work.. Currently this space was taken up by a huge clutter of junk. There were large pieces of ply board, some untouched and some well on the way to becoming set pieces, surrounding these were all the tools necessary for the job, hammers screw drivers, saws and paintbrushes littered the floor. There were a couple of racks hung with the costumes that had already been made, along with some half finished outfits.

Sam made his way carefully through the mess, checking the back of some of the set pieces for the occult symbols he had seen yesterday. In amongst the graffiti that the students obviously took great pleasure in scrawling all over the back of the props he found at least twenty symbols that looked pretty genuine to him. He considered painting over them but realised that this would just be covering them up, they needed to be destroyed. Setting fire to half the set probably wouldn't go down too well but before they were done here that would definitely need doing.

He walked past the racks that held the costumes grinning when he saw the pink satin jackets that hung there. He could just seen Dean in one of them, he'd have to point them out to him later he decided.

Sam climbed the four steps that led to the stage, taking care to spread his weight evenly so that they didn't creak. He didn't actually need to be stealthy at the minute but those hunters instincts were hard to ignore. He walked around the large stage which apart from a few finished set pieces and a piano off to the side was relatively empty. He stood in the middle of the stage and fighting the impulse to start quoting Hamlet looked up into the rafters. He could see several lighting rigs up there and a walkway that allowed people to access them for maintenance. He could also just make out several ropes threaded around in loops up there. He looked around the whole theatre and couldn't find any lighting rigs on the floor, they must have disposed of the one that hit the girl already.

Sam spent a good couple of hours in the empty theatre before deciding that he wasn't going to get any answers here. Next job was to find out more about Celia. Sam headed off for the library to see if he could find anyone willing to talk.

Snsnsnsnsnsnsnsnsn

Watching Sam walking to school in his rear view mirror turned out to be the only satisfying moment of Dean's morning. He'd spent the first two hours sweeping, mopping and buffing the gym floor. It was exhausting work and just as he'd finished about a hundred kids had come barrelling in ruining all his hard work in a matter of minutes. He'd just managed to resist yelling at them by storming out of there with a face like thunder. He had a new found respect for the people who did this job for a living, between the back breaking work and the snide looks from students and teachers alike he decided it took a determined person to be able to do this every day.

He hadn't cleaned the toilets yet, he'd decided he'd leave that treat for after lunch. Speaking of lunch he was starting to get hungry but the thought of sitting in a crowded cafeteria surrounded by people had him heading for his car with the intention of finding a drive through. He thought of looking for Sam but decided that the little geek was probably in the library which was right across the other side of the school and he just couldn't be bothered. When he made it to his car he found a young boy stood looking at it admiringly.

Dean walked up to him and making sure the kid was stood a respectful distance away gave him a nod of greeting before opening the driver side door.

"Is this your car?" the kid asked tentatively brushing a nervous hand through his floppy hair.

"Yes it is." Dean puffed his chest out in pride.

"Sweet ride." the kid stepped a little closer. "67 right?"

"Sure is. Name's Dean by the way." Dean was impressed that the kid recognised the year, most people got it wrong and said 65. He offered his hand and the kid shook it.

"Jake." the kid answered still looking at the car with awe in his eyes. Dean suddenly recognised him as one of the kids that had been in the theatre yesterday.

"So who are you really?" Dean reared his head back in surprise at the kids question.

"What?"

"Well you're brother clearly isn't a TA and you definitely aren't a janitor."

"My brother?" Dean tried his best to come up with a story but the kid cut him off.

"How many people do you know who own a 67 Chevy Impala." Jake explained his reasoning. "You both show up at the same time and even though your not supposed to know each other you seemed really pally yesterday."

Dean looked at Jake who stood there with one eyebrow raised and realised that he wasn't going to be able to fool this kid. No-one had ever seen through their act before and it had taken this kid less than a day . Dean was impressed and decided to go against his every instinct and give Jake the respect he deserved . He decided to tell him the truth.

"We're hunters." he began.

"You won't find many deer in this school." Jake joked. "A few jackasses maybe."

"Not that kind of hunter. We hunt…" he hesitated not quite sure how to explain himself. "bad stuff."

The look Jake gave him told him he wasn't doing a very good job here. " You know demons, werewolves, vengeful spirits that kind of thing." Dean waited for the inevitable look of disbelief.

"Cool." Jake whistled.

"Cool?" Dean almost choked.

"So I guess you're here because of the stuff that's been happening in the theatre." he said.

"What do you know about that?"

"Well I was there when that thing flew at Lisa. So what do you think it is some kind of ghost or something right?" Dean could see that the kid was getting excited.

"Well spirit yeah."

"What's the difference?"

"Well if it was just a ghost we could find the remains, salt and burn them, job done."

Jake looked at him oddly for a minute before shrugging.

"But we think it's a spirit that a witch summoned, so the only way to get rid of it is to deal with the witch first."

"You realise how ridiculous this all sounds right?" Jake asked.

"Tell me about it." Dean admitted.

"So any idea on who the witch is?" he asked smiling at the bemused look on Dean's face.

"We were thinking maybe Celia." Dean decided to tell him.

Jake frowned at this." I don't know about that." he shook his head.

"Why? She seemed angry that she didn't get the lead and that girl that was attacked was the lead right?"

"Still" Jake was still frowning. "seems a little obvious don't you think?"

Dean had to suppress a frustrated sigh, god this kid sounded just like Sam. In fact add a couple of feet and Dean thought he looked just like Sam did at that age. He had to resist the urge to reach out and ruffle the kids hair. Sam had hated that.

"Well we're going to try to find out this afternoon. Just do me a favour Jake."

"What's that?"

"Don't tell anyone about this, or about me and Sam."

" You're kidding right." Jake laughed. " I don't need people thinking I'm nuts. I guess I'll see you this afternoon ."

"Sure." Dean answered and watched Jake stroll away, after one last longing glance at the car that is. He smiled and shook his head, that kid was definitely too smart for his own good.

Snsnsnsnsnsnsnsnsnsnsn

Sam spent a little time in the library but couldn't find anyone willing to talk. Well not about Celia anyway, there were a few girls with plenty of questions for him. He managed to politely answer them before making a hasty retreat, glancing over his shoulder occasionally, sure that they were following him.

The bell rang for lunch period reminding him that he hadn't eaten breakfast that morning, after a quick unsuccessful search for Dean he gave up and headed for the cafeteria.

He joined the long queue for food and then having made his purchase stood looking out at the crowded room desperately searching for an empty spot.

"Mr Winston." he heard a voice calling and for once was glad of the extra height that usually made him feel a little self-conscious. He could see over the sea of heads a hand waving at him trying to get his attention. He made his way over to the table and recognised Steven, one of the boys from yesterday indicating an empty seat next to him.

"Thanks " Sam said sinking into it gratefully.

"No problem. Steven grinned at him. "Everybody this is Mr Winston the new TA." he introduced him to the table. Sam nodded at the group of teenagers sat around the table. He was kind of relieved when Steven didn't introduce them all by name, he was having enough trouble remembering the ones from yesterday without adding a whole lot more.

"So I see you went with the pasta." Steven said looking at Sam's tray.

"Yeah." Sam said looking around he could see he was the only one who'd made that choice.

"Bad move man." Steven laughed.

"Why's that?"

"You'll see." Steven just grinned.

Sam prodded the food with a fork hesitantly but couldn't see anything wrong with it. Shrugging he speared a bit with his fork and placed it in his mouth.

The whole table burst out laughing at the horrified look that came over his face.

Just managing to choke the mouthful down he gasped out" oh my god that's awful. What the hell is that?"

"Nobody knows." Steven managed to get out between laughs "but they still keep serving it for some reason."

Sam wisely chose to put his fork down and instead took a bite of the apple he's bought as well. Anything to get rid of that awful taste in his mouth.

"So will you be at rehearsal this afternoon." Steven asked still smiling at the look of disgust on Sam's face.

"Yeah."

"So you're not scared then?" one of the other kid asked.

"Of what?"

"You've heard the rumours right, that the place is haunted."

"I have actually." Sam offered." But it takes a lot more than that to scare me."

"Talking about scary, there goes Celia." Steven was looking at the dark haired girl as she walked past.

"I hear she stormed out yesterday?" a girl asked from across the table.

"Yeah good riddance if you ask me." Sam picked up on the spite in Stevens voice as he said that.

"She seems okay to me." Sam couldn't help defending the girl in spite of what they suspected about her.

"She's a freak, she even lives in a trailer park." Steven said viciously sneering at where the girl had sat a couple of tables down.

Sam frowned at this. How many people had called him and Dean freaks growing up. Especially when they'd found out how they lived. He found himself wishing that he hadn't accepted the offer to sit at this table, he really wasn't enjoying the company.

Snsnsnsnsnsnsnsnsnsnsnsn

Sam sought out Dean a while later and found him on his knees in front of a toilet bowl, brush in hand, scrubbing vigorously. In light of what had happened Sam didn't find the scene quite as funny as he was expecting.

Dean glanced up at where Sam stood expecting to see a smug grin on his face and was surprised when he didn't.

He sat back on his heels and then stood groaning as his back protested at having been bent over for so long.

"So what did you find out?" Dean asked.

" Not much really." Sam admitted. " I think we're just going to have to hope that Celia shows up for rehearsal."

"Let's hope so. I can't wait for this job to be over."

Sam nodded sympathetically" Okay I'll see you in there then. You'd better bring some supplies in from the car when you come." he suggested.

"You think " Dean responded sarcastically. " Oh by the way that kid Jake knows about us."

"What?" Sam turned around spluttering

"The kids smart what can I say. The car tipped him off."

"I've told you before the cars too conspicuous."

"I'm not getting rid of my baby Sam." Dean leaped to her defence.

"I know, I know" Sam said defensively. " It's just…."

"Just nothing. It's not going to happen end of discussion."

Sam shook his head and left the bathroom. Not that he'd admit it to Dean of course but he was as unwilling to let the car go as much as his older brother was. He might not have quite the same sick attachment to the car as Dean did but it still meant a lot to him. Car held a lot of memories, good and bad. It would be like getting rid of a family member and they didn't really have many of them left to go around.

Dean watched Sam go resolving to bring the subject up again later. There was just no way that was going to happen. He suddenly had second thoughts about leaving the car to Sam next year when he was gone. Maybe he should give it to Bobby instead, at least he'd know how to look after her right.

Sighing, toilet brush in hand he turned back to the row of stalls and setting his shoulders in determination headed for the next one.

Snsnsnsnsnsnsnsnsnsnsn

A/N: Sorry another boring one for you. I was trying to get to the action here but the chapter was getting too long. I promise that the next one will be more exciting. Much pain and angst to come.


	6. Chapter 6

DISCLAIMER: I wish.

SPOILERS: Again pretty much anything.

A/N: I'm upping the rating on this because I'm not quite sure. But at least that means it's finally going to get interesting hopefully.

Chapter Six

Beck stood in the middle of the stage, spotlight on ,belting out Hopelessly Devoted at the top of her lungs. Sam, who was sat at the side of the stage with the rest of the group couldn't help but be impressed. Her voice was sweet and clear and it echoed through the nearly empty room.

He risked a quick glance over at where Dean was stood, pretending to fix some chairs that were stacked at the back of the stage. Even though his face was partly in shadow Sam could see the look of appreciation on his brother's face. He was a little worried as to whether Dean was appreciating the quality of her voice or the view he had of her ass from where he was standing.

Beck finished the song and the spotlight immediately switched off. A second later the main lights came on temporarily blinding Sam. When he could see again he looked around the group and saw that the only person not clapping enthusiastically was Celia.

She's shown up after all. Heidi had told him that she'd managed to talk the girl into it by offering her the role that Beck had had before. Sam couldn't see the sullen teenager playing Frenchie but what did he know.

He'd not had much of a chance to speak to Heidi today because she'd been dealing with all the various problems that being principal seemed to entail. He'd managed to grab a few minutes with her whilst they waited for all the kids to show up for rehearsal. She expressed surprise when he'd told her what they suspected, suggesting that maybe they should remove Celia from the play altogether. Sam had managed to talk her out of it, telling her that they weren't even sure if Celia was to blame and if she was they really didn't want to risk upsetting her. The spirit that had been conjured was a particularly nasty one.

Sam had felt a little guilty leaving Dean in the toilets cleaning earlier. He had resolved to head to the library and use one of the computers there to find out as much information about what they were dealing with as he could.

Judging by the type of symbols they'd found he'd managed to find out exactly what they were dealing with. It was called a Githra. It wasn't a spirit in the traditional sense, more a manifestation of the witch's own desires. As he continued to read he began to wonder if the person behind it really knew what they were getting themselves into. These sort of things started out fairly harmlessly , little tweaks here and there , things that improved the persons life in little ways. The longer it was around the spirirt would start to act on it's own , no longer content to act on just the witch's spoken demands but also there subconcious ones. Eventutually the spirit would take on a life of it's own and that's when things really went to hell because the Guthra would decide that a half life wasn't enough and would demand payment. Payment in the from of another life, so that it could manifest fully, be complete in some sick twisted way. Quite often it was the witch who paid the ultimate price. In fact in every case that Sam could find the witch either went insane, or died and in most cases both.

If it really was Celia then they needed to find a way stop her, for her own sake if nothing else.

Snsnsnsnsnsnsnsn

Dean blinked as the lights came on and he found himself staring at Beck. God for a seventeen year old she had a great voice, her ass wasn't too bad either he couldn't help noticing with a quirk to his lip.

He glanced over at where Sam sat glaring at him. He had a brief moment when he was worried that Sam could read his mind so he gave him his best innocent look and then quickly looked away. He just happened to look in the direction of the piano and that was why he was so quick to react.

Beck was just making her way towards the stairs when out of the corner of her eye she saw something hurtling towards her. She felt strong arms pushing her out of the way and as she fell to the floor heard a loud thud followed by a grunt of pain.

Sam watched helplessly as his brother ran across the stage and pushed the girl to safety only to be hit by the full force of the heavy upright piano. Even as he ran forward he saw the momentum of the piano push his brother off the edge of the stage and even he wasn't quick enough to catch him. He arrived just in time to slam his shoulder into the piano and stop it following Dean.

"Dean" Sam yelled looking down at the older man who lay in a crumpled heap at his feet. All pretence that he didn't know Dean went out the window in the face of a clearly injured Dean. He wasn't even aware of some of the looks he was getting as he knelt down by his brother's side. The worry he was showing over the other man's injuries made it obvious to everyone around him that whoever this person was, to him he clearly meant a great deal.

"Oh god Sam is he okay?" Heidi knelt on Dean's other side and looked back and forth between the two of them concern written clearly on her face.

Sam ignored her, all of his attention focused on the pale face of the other Winchester. A thin line of blood trickled down from Dean's hairline and ran over his eyebrow and started to drip onto his closed eyelid. Sam reached a hand out and gently wiped the blood away before it could stain his eyelashes. He pulled the sleeve of his shirt down over his other hand and used it to wipe the blood off his brothers forehead before pressing it to the thankfully small gash that he could see just above his left temple.

"Jake go get the nurse, quick." Heidi's voice startled him. He looked across at her and finally noticed that everyone in the room was huddled around them. Most of the faces openly shocked.

With one last look at the stricken Dean ,Jake spun on his heal and headed for the door. "It's locked." his slightly panicked voice broke on the last word as he shouted back.

Heidi glanced up sharply at this. "Steven check the fire escape." she ordered one of the other teens. He was back a minute later shaking his head.

"That ones locked too."

"Shit." Heidi shocked everyone by saying.

Beck had shakily climbed to her feet by now and with a wary glance at the piano came forward and stood on the edge of the stage looking down at her saviour. "He pushed me out of the way." she told everyone as if none of them had seen the brave but reckless act. "He's not dead is he?"

Just then Dean groaned to everyone's relief. Sam leant forward eagerly as Dean slowly started to open his eyes.

I feel like I've been hit by a truck Dean thought to himself before the memory of seeing a piano flying across the stage came back to him. Well close, he thought. He blearily opened his eyes to find a familiar face looming in front of him. "Dude, breath mints." he growled out and saw Sam scowl for a minute before breaking into a big goofy grin.

"God man you scared me." he admitted sitting back slightly when he saw the look on Deans face.

"What are you doing?" Dean indicated the hand that Sam had pressed to his forehead and knocked it away before Sam could respond.

"Fine bleed then."

Dean raised a slightly shaky hand to his head at this and when his hand came away bloody gave Sam a slightly sheepish grin.

"You and head injuries man, I'm starting to think you have a fetish." Sam joked but still gave the wound on Dean's head a quick once over to make sure it wasn't still bleeding too heavily. It was only slightly oozing now so he decided to leave it alone, not wanting to annoy Dean annoy more than necessary. He knew how much his older brother hated to be fussed over.

"Oh shit the girl." Dean suddenly remembered swinging his head round frantically trying to see her. An action he regretted instantly as the room tilted dangerously and he had to fight back the urge to throw up.

"I'm fine" Beck reassured him and then gushed "that was so brave."

Dean raised an eyebrow at Sam who just shook his head at him.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Heidi asked drawing his attention to where she sat at his other side her face creased with worry.

"I'm good." Dean said and to prove it offered a hand to Sam so he could pull him up. Sam put his own hand in Dean's and gently started to pull him to his feet then stopped when Dean gave a loud grasp of pain and let go of his hand to grab his side.

"Ribs?" Sam asked already knowing the answer. They'd both had their fair share of broken and bruised ribs in their time for him to be able to recognise the signs easily enough.

Dean nodded wearily, he hated it when he hurt his ribs. Broken bones he could deal with ,but the constant nagging pain every time you tried to take a deep breath with this type of injury was really irritating. He was going to be in for a few long weeks ahead he realised. Although they had to get out of this situation alive first of course.

Sam looked down at where his brother sat wincing on the floor. He went to run a weary hand through his hair and stopped when he saw the blood on his fingers. His brothers blood.

"That's it." Sam voice was barley recognisable. The usually soft, gentle tone was replaced by something hard and deadly sounding. "This ends now." Sam turned around to face the group of teenagers surrounding him and ignoring the looks of shock on their faces sought out the person he was looking for.

Dean watched in amazement as his usually calm little brother stalked over to where Celia stood and demanded " Show us your wrists."

"What?" Celia stuttered before taking a nervous step back, but Sam followed her not allowing her any space.

"You heard me."

Celia looked up into the face above her. Seeing the barely controlled rage there she did the only thing she could think of, she ran.

It was futile really there was no way she was going to outrun Sam, plus where exactly was she going to go anyway. Sam caught up with her as she reached the wall. He grabbed and spun her round before pinning her to the wall.

"I'm sorry. It was an accident honestly. I didn't mean it I swear." the girl sobbed as Sam glared down at her. Sam felt a stab of pity for her before an image of Dean flying off the stage flashed across his mind.

"Show me your wrists." he repeated through gritted teeth, using all of his 6'4" frame to intimidate the teenager.

Celia looked down at the floor to avoid his steely gaze and slowly started to roll the sleeves of her black jumper up.

Averting her eyes from him she held her trembling wrists out for everyone to see. Sam looked at them in shock and from behind him he heard one of the kids.

"Holy shit."

Snsnsnsnsnsnsnsnsnsn

TBC

A/N In case you hadn't guessed I totally made up the Githra thing. I wanted something that fit the story rather than trying to fit the story around something "real". Sorry if it comes out a bit clumsy.

Also okay I'm sick I admit it but I just love to see Dean with those head injuries.


	7. Chapter 7

DISCLAIMER: These things are really depressing, destroying all my dreams. No I don't.

SPOILERS: As before anything goes.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews. Turns out I'm a review junkie, who knew.

Chapter Seven

Dean could see the look of confusion on his brother's face as he stared down at the girl's arms in front of him. From where he was sat on the floor he couldn't see what it was that everyone else was staring at in such shock. Sam turned to look at Dean and he could see the plea in his brother's eyes.

Very carefully he pushed himself up from the floor and gingerly made his way over to where his brother stood. Sam looked at him and then back down to the teenager's wrists. Dean followed his eyes and could see what had scared his brother so much.

"Huh" he said.

Across both of the sobbing girl's wrists was a barely healed slash mark. Dean and Sam shared a look, this was definitely not their area of expertise. Celia looked up and catching the look the brothers shared sunk to the floor in a broken heap, sobs shaking her slight body.

"I didn't mean to do it honestly, it was an accident. It just, it got too much you know?" she managed to get out between sobs.

Despite the pain in his ribs Dean hunched down next to the girl and put a comforting hand on her shoulder." What did?" he gently asked. Sam stood looking down at his brother in wonder. This was a side to Dean that Sam had never seen before.

Celia turned tear filled eyes up to meet his. " Everything." Dean reeled back in shock at the word, something about this scene feeling eerily familiar.

"It's going to be okay." he tried to reassure and something either in his voice or his eyes seemed to get through to her. She nodded reluctantly and raised a shaking hand up to wipe away the tears on her cheek.

Dean became aware that the rest of the group had moved closer and as he slowly stood Beck took his place at Celia's side.

"God Celia, why didn't you tell anyone?"

Celia shrugged and Beck put her arm around the other girl's shoulder and pulled her into a hug.

Dean turned to look at Sam and catching the look in his brother's eye said "what?"

"Uh nothing, it's just…."

"Just what?" Dean growled out and Sam wisely decided to change the subject.

"Well I guess it's not Celia then."

"Shit." Dean exclaimed, annoyed that their best lead had just disappeared." Then who the hell is it?"

"I don't know but I'm guessing that whoever it is, is still in this room."

"I stashed the bag over there" Dean said pointing at the row of trash cans that sat a few feet away." Go grab it."

"You got something in there that'll help?" Sam asked.

"I don't know, but I'll feel a lot better if it's closer" Dean admitted.

Sam nodded and walked over to fetch the bag leaving Dean surrounded by Heidi and all the kids, who he realised were all staring at him, including Celia who seemed to have clamed down a lot already now that she was no longer the centre of attention. Beck's comforting arm around her shoulder was probably helping a lot as well Dean decided.

"So who the hell are you exactly?" Bobby asked drawing his attention to the sixteen year old who stood staring at him.

Dean shot a look at Heidi.

"They're old friends of mine." she started to explain. "I called them after Lisa got hurt. This sort of stuff is kind of their job."

"What do you mean this sort of stuff?" Stephanie asked looking between the two of them suspiciously.

"They're ghost hunters" Jake said smugly from the side.

Sam walked back up just as Lana said "that's so much cooler than being a janitor."

"Yeah it's a barrel of laughs." Dean pointed at the wound on his head that was still bleeding slightly and pouted.

"Okay Sammy boy, let's see what we've got." With that Sam upended the bag and tipped it's contents all over the floor. He saw a couple of the kids react with fear when several guns, including a shotgun, a couple of machetes, a few bottles of harmless looking water, cannisters of salt, lighter fluid and various bundles of herbs spilled out on the ground.

"Dude you're an idiot." Dean looked at his little brother in disbelief.

"Why?"

"Did you ever think that dropping a bunch of guns on the floor was maybe not such a good idea."

Sam felt like an idiot, at least he had the sense to look ashamed.

Dean shook his head, for a college boy Sam could be really dumb sometimes.

"None of this is going to help us unless we find out who the witch is anyway."

"Witch." Bobby asked his eyes still roving over the impressive arsenal that covered the floor in front of him. " I thought you were ghost hunters?"

"We're equal opportunity hunters." Dean explained." If it's evil we'll hunt it. It's nice, less limiting you know."

"Well we need to figure this out and fast" Sam interrupted Dean's little speech.

"Okay everybody, roll your sleeves up we need to see your wrists." Dean demanded.

The teenagers all stood around looking confused until Heidi added." Do as he asks kids, the sooner this is over the sooner we can all get out of here."

One by one the kids stepped forward and displayed their wrists for everyone to see.

"This is so stupid" Stephanie said exposing her own unblemished wrists for study before stepping back with a scowl on her face.

A little self-consciously all of the kids bared their wrist until the only one that was left was Steven. "We're not all suicidal freaks like her you know" he said nodding his head towards the now much calmer Celia. Beck took a protective step closer towards the other girl and glared at Steven.

"Shut up Steven" she hissed.

"Yeah Steven, shut up" Dean added, his head really starting to pound now. He really wanted to get this over with. "Anyway you're the only one left, got something to hide?" Dean took a menacing step forward.

Quicker than they would have thought possible Steven shot forward, grabbed a gun off the floor and had it pointed at Jake' s head.

"Just stay back" he screamed, a little wildly as Sam took a step forward. Sam stopped and raised his hands to show he meant no harm.

"You've got to be freaking kidding me" Dean said staring at the scene incredulously." You're a witch" he looked at the tall, blond haired, blue eyed boy in front of him." Wait are you still a witch if you're a guy?" he turned and asked Sam eyebrows raised.

"I think that makes you a wizard." Sam said grinning in spite of the situation.

"Like Harry Potter." Dean smirked at the look of rage that came over Steven's face.

"No not like Harry Potter" he tried to defend himself lamely." It's way cooler than that. I can have anything I want, be anything I want….." the words were cut off as a large tin of paint connected with the side of his head, dropping him to the floor instantly.

"Well you still look like a loser to me" Celia said stood over, him paint can still clutched tightly in her right hand.

"Nice" Dean complimented her and was rewarded with a truly stunning smile that completely transformed her face.

Sam darted forward and took the gun from the boy's limp grasp.

"Are you okay?" he asked Jake who was stood there looking stunned.

Jake nodded and turned to Celia." That was so cool."

Celia suddenly looked a little uncomfortable with all the attention she was getting." It was nothing." she tried to dismiss it.

"No defiantly something" Beck said looking at her friend in awe.

Dean joined Sam stood over the unconscious boy's body. "Let's have a look at this cool tattoo."

Sam bent down by the boy's side and pulled his right sleeve up exposing his wrist. No tattoo, Sam shrugged, it must be on the other wrist he thought reaching out for his left arm. He pulled the sleeve up then looked up at Dean in shock. Dean looked down at the bare wrists.

"Oh that's just great." he said sarcastically.

Both wrists were completely unmarked.

" Now what?" Sam asked his brow furrowed in frustration.

" Now the real fun begins" a voice came from behind them and before either of them could react the brothers were lifted off their feet and flung across the room.

Snsnsnsnsnsnsnsnsn

TBC

A/N: Thanks to indusgirl1313 whose review made me think of the little scene with Celia and Dean earlier on. I hope you liked it.


	8. Chapter 8

DISCLAIMER: If I did then I don't think they'd like me very much after this next chapter.

SPOILERS: As I've said before anything goes. I intend to bring some stuff up in this chapter.

A/N: I hope you've stuck with me so far. This is the one that I've been looking forward to (and dreading writing at the same time) since I began.

Chapter Eight

The first thing Dean was aware of was pain. That was an all too familiar feeling. His head was pounding, he could tell the head wound had opened up again because he could feel blood tracing it's way down his face to drip from his chin. His ribs were screaming, in fact he was struggling to breath past the tightness there. His wrists burned and he felt like his arms were slowly being pulled from their sockets.

He slowly opened his eyes and waited for the room to stop swaying. He looked down and saw that his feet were a good few inches from the floor. Well that's not right his confused brain told him. Looking up told him everything he needed to know. A rope descended from the rafters above his head and was looped tightly around his wrists. His arms were pulled tightly above him supporting his full weight. With nothing else holding him in place he was swinging slightly from side to side. This didn't look good he decided.

He hung there for a minute trying to think past the fog in his brain and remember what had happened.

"SAM" he yelled at the top of his voice as it all came flooding back.

"SAMMY" he yelled again when he didn't get an answer.

He swung himself frantically around, ignoring the burning pain in his arms that this caused. He caught a glimpse of the students stood together in a huddle facing the stage. The stage he just happened to be hanging in the middle of. Great, he thought, I'm the star attraction. Just then he spotted a familiar form crumpled against the far wall.

"SAM" to his relief he saw his brother slowly raise his head.

The kids had watched in horror as the two men had flown across the room in different directions. Then they'd watched in disbelief as a rope had descended from the ceiling to loop itself around the shorter of the two's wrists and then drag the unconscious man first to his feet then higher. All of this seemingly of it's own accord. They had instinctively huddled together . They stood now, lost, and watched the drama unfold before them.

The first thing Sam was aware of was his brother calling his name. The second was pain. He'd landed badly on his right wrist and recognised from the familiar pain that he'd broken it again. He raised a shaky left hand up to the back of his head and winced when it came in contact with an egg sized lump. Bringing his fingers in front of his face he was relieved to see no blood there.

"Sam" his brothers frantic shouts drew his attention to where he hung suspended in the middle of the stage. He could see the blood that ran freely down Dean's face to drip onto his shirt. Dean's eyes met his and Sam saw the concern that he felt reflected there.

"Dean." Sam pushed himself to his feet and started towards the other hunter. He only got a few steps before an invisible force slammed him back against the wall. He winced as his broken wrist made contact with the hard surface at his back.

"Yeah, not so fast there Sammy" a voice said,then the last person he would have expected walked towards him, grinning evilly.

Dean watched in disbelief as Mrs Johnson, his Mrs Johnson, stalked towards his brother.

Sam tried desperately to pull himself away from the wall. How did he always seem to end up in this situation he thought to himself as Heidi got closer. He gulped slightly when he saw what she had in her hand.

"God you boys really are stupid " she said twirling the screwdriver in her hand menacingly.

"Hey bitch" Dean tried to get her attention away from his brother.

"Witch, Dean get it right, I'm a witch" and with that she rammed the screwdriver straight through Sam's right hand, pinning it to the wall.

Dean pulled desperately on the ropes binding his wrists, drawing blood, as he listened to his baby brother scream in pain.

"Don't worry Dean, he's not really the one I'm interested in hurting. I just wanted to make a point."

"Oh and what's that." Dean said between gritted teeth watching in horror as Sam's head slumped forward and he took great gasps of air.

"Don't underestimate what I'm capable of."

Dean risked another look at Sam's pain filled eyes before nodding to let her know she'd made her point.

She walked away from Sam and towards the group of students who stood looking between her and Sam with fear in their eyes.

"Sit" she barked at the kids and as one they fell to the floor, whether by supernatural means or just the force of her voice was unclear but either way it had the required result.

She gave Steven a kick where he lay prone on the floor. " Pathetic" she spat out. She raised her foot as if to kick him again.

"Leave him alone, he's just a kid." Dean yelled at her, stopping her foot mid swing.

"Don't you ever stop." she sighed looking at him. "Must you defend everyone. Who made you the ultimate self-sacrificing hero. Oh yeah that's right…" she paused and smirked" Daddy dearest."

Sam gritted his teeth against the pain and watched as Heidi walked towards Dean , taunting him.

"Shut up bitch." Dean snarled.

"Don't you know any other words Dean. Maybe I need to teach you the manners that poor dead mommy never got to."

Sam felt an invisible band start to tighten around his neck and he was soon gasping for air.

"Stop" Dean screamed out as he watched Sam's face starting to turn blue.

"Stop what…." Heidi continued to smirk.

"Stop…please." Dean pleaded.

"That's better."

Sam immediately felt the tight band release and he took in great gulping breaths of air.

"You never could bear to see Sammy hurting could you." Heidi had now made her way up onto the stage and she got closer to Dean with every step.

"He's my brother." Dean explained, stating the obvious.

"Yeah but the things you did for him, much more than a big brother would normally be willing to do. And all that time you never once told him how much pain you were in did you, a long as Sammy was okay that's all that matters, isn't that what you used to say to me."

Dean closed his eyes as this woman who had trusted with some of his innermost secrets ripped his soul apart for everyone to see. Her words ate into him and he could feel her breath on his cheek. He opened his eyes and she was stood so close he could see his own distorted reflection in the emptiness of her blue eyes.

"Dean never told you any of this did he Sam." Heidi called over her shoulder to where Sam stood listening. "How much he sacrificed for you. You make fun of him for being greedy but did you ever wonder why he loves food so much? Do you know how many meals he missed just so that you didn't go hungry."

Sam looked sharply at his brother, waiting for him to deny what she was saying, but the betrayed look that he saw there told him the truth of her words.

"I had to listen to him whine every lunch time that summer. I wish Mom wasn't dead, I wish Dad would stay home, I wish Sam would stop asking questions." Heidi put on a mocking whiny tone that had Dean glaring at her. " I can't do this anymore" she revealed what Dean had said to her all those years ago." If it hadn't been for me Dean would have done a Celia over there." she nodded to where the girl sat with the others watching in shock. "Except you probably would have used a gun and done a proper job, unlike her." she sneered at the girl.

"I was never suicidal." Dean said, his voice hard and uncompromising.

"Really?" Heidi raised her eyebrows at him." What would you call making a deal that means you'll die in a year in exchange for your brothers life Dean?"

"Being an awesome brother." Dean immediate bit back.

"I'm glad you're finding this so funny. That's about to change." she whispered in his ear.

"Why are you doing all this?" Dean asked unable to reconcile the image of the kind, understanding woman he'd once known with the crazy person in front of him.

"Because it's your fault he's dead."

Dean reared his head back in shock. His first thought was that she meant his dad, the familiar surge of guilt surfacing again, but then he realised that that made no sense.

"Oh, that's right." Heidi said on seeing the look of confusion on Dean's face. " Sammy was always the smart one. Isn't that right Sam?" she turned and looked at where the younger Winchester stood watching, still pinned to the wall.

Sam looked at the screwdriver that had impaled his hand and looked away slightly sickened. His eyes glassy with pain he spoke." Your husband."

"Not bad." she whistled, impressed that he'd worked it out so quickly. " You were right about him."

"You see" she went on. "You piqued my interest with all your tales of the supernatural. I wasn't sure just how much I believed at the time but after you left I started to do my own research. I couldn't believe what was out there. It took me a while but I finally plucked up the courage to try a few little spells myself. Thing is though Dean you never really did get across the point that this stuff was dangerous, you always made it sound so exciting."

"I was sixteen." Dean interrupted.

"Don't interrupt Dean" she said her eyes flashing." It's my turn now. Anyway I found the spell that summons the Githra about a year ago. It looked harmless enough. I felt I deserved to make my life a little bit more interesting, after listening to all these whining kids all day I deserved a little indulgence. I was just an English and Drama teacher, no chance of promotion, my husband was starting to lose interest and so I did it. In fact I did it in this very theatre a year ago today. "

Dean shifted slightly trying to ease some of the tension in his burning shoulders, but found the movement just caused his side to scream in agony, stifling a groan he continued to listen to how his former friend had descended into madness.

"It was great at first" she said " I got the job I'd always wanted, you know as principal you don't have to spend as much time with the kids, which was such a relief. My husband got a promotion as well and things were really starting to look great for us. I look like I did ten years ago and my husband became very attentive if you know what I mean." she leered at Dean in a way that made him feel very uncomfortable.

"So what changed?" Dean asked finding that he really wanted to know the answer to that question.

"About six months ago" Heidi walked away from Dean but continued talking. " we were having this stupid argument, over what drapes to buy of all things. Anyway it got a bit out of hand and I ended up screaming at him "I wish you'd just drop dead" she paused and Sam saw her take a deep breath before continuing" and he did."

She spun around so she was facing Dean again. "He just dropped dead right in front of me, no warning nothing. So you see why this is your fault don't you. If I'd never met you Jeff would still be alive. You need to pay for that."

Dean swallowed and closed his eyes as her words sunk in. She was right, he realised, this was his fault. He looked into the eyes of the woman he'd once loved and his guilt consumed him.

Snsnsnsnsnsnsnsnsnsnsn

TBC

A/N: I know this is a bit short but I kind of wanted to end it there, I hope I didn't scare anyone off by hurting the boys. I'm hoping you're all as warped as me and secretly like it a little bit.


	9. Chapter 9

DISCLAIMER: If you think I own them you must not have read the previous chapters, which kind of begs the question, why are you reading this one? It won't make any sense now.

SPOILERS: Stuff's coming up. I've got to find ways to torture the boys somehow.

A/N: Anyone who's a bit squeamish better look away now. I don't think it's too bad though. Thanks to everyone who is still reading.

Chapter Nine

Sam pushed past the pain in his hand and focused on what was happening to his brother. He could tell from the look in Dean's eyes that he believed that this was his fault. Dean hung his head in shame and Sam felt like shaking him.

"So that girl getting hurt was all just to draw us here?" Sam asked.

"Yeah I knew Dean wouldn't be able to resist rushing in and playing the hero."

"What about Steven over there" Sam looked over at where the boy still lay sprawled out on the floor. Damn, he thought to himself on seeing that he was still unconscious , remind me never to piss off any high school girls.

"He was my little apprentice, didn't really work out too well though. No-one ever could live up to you Dean" she raised her eyebrows suggestively at the older brother, running a finger across his cheek. For a minute Sam wondered just exactly how close the two of them had been back then.

"You're insane, you know that don't you?" he called out, drawing Heidi's attention towards him.

"Well duh" she shrugged her shoulders.

"How the hell can you blame Dean for any of this?" he continued to goad her.

"Weren't you listening? I just explained all that" Heidi looked annoyed.

"The Githra only did what you wanted, if you hadn't wanted bad things, bad things wouldn't have happened."

"Oh and it's that simple. I don't think so. Do you think I wanted any of this to happen?" she stood next to Dean as she talked and started to push him slightly. Dean grimaced in pain as the movement pulled on his arms and side. "I'm not a bad person, not really" even she didn't sound that convinced. "When I summoned that spirit I crossed a line, I may not have realised at the time, but that doesn't change the fact. The thing is you see once you cross that line there's no going back. Do you think people deliberately set out to be evil? Of course not, they make one bad choice, commit one selfish act and then it's too late. Once you accept that little bit of evil you can't get rid of it, it stains your soul. "

Sam swallowed past the lump of fear in his throat as memories of pulling a trigger over and over flashed through his mind.

"Nothing I ever do will change that, I can't get redemption now. When I die I'm going to hell. We all know what a frightening prospect that is, don't we boys?" she looked between the two of them seeing the same sickened look on both their faces.

"So I intend to put that off for as long as possible. Only problem is the Githra wants a life, my life. Luckily for me I found a loophole. Turns out if I find another life for the Githra to take then it'll let me off the hook. Thing is if I want it to stick around afterwards it has to be a pure one, a powerful one." she turned her eyes to meet Dean's hazel-green ones. "That's where you come in. Two birds with one stone and all that. I get my revenge and I get to live a long and happy life."

She stepped back in surprise when Dean started laughing. "You think my life is pure? You couldn't be further from the truth. My soul's tarnished sweetheart."

"See that's where you're wrong Dean, you found a way to wipe the slate clean."

Dean looked at her, startled..

"Didn't you know? You sacrificed yourself to save another, it doesn't get any purer than that. Ironic really because you always walked a fine line, but by selling your soul you brought a ticket to heaven that you'll never get to use. You're going to hell Dean regardless, you already know that. This just means that you go a little ahead of schedule, but you'll get to save another life in the process if it's any consolation" she said it almost as if she'd convinced herself that she was doing him a favour.

"Okay he's pure, we'll just have to take your word for it" Sam tried once again to draw the attention away from his brother. "But powerful? I'm not so sure, I'm the one with the power remember." He shot a look at Dean hoping he wouldn't take any of this to heart.

Heidi frowned, confusion clouding her face. " I don't know what power you're talking about."

So there were some things that Dean hadn't told her Sam realised. Actually come to think of it he wasn't that surprised. Dean would never tell anyone anything that would put Sam in danger.

Heidi looked at him for a minute longer before shrugging and continuing. "Anyway that's not what I meant. Do you know that a light burns brightest just before it's extinguished.? Dean's burning brightly right now. I'm surprised you can't see it. He's shining" she looked at Dean again as she said this, a look of wonder taking over her features.

It was in that moment that Dean realised that the woman he'd had once known was gone. The look in her eyes told him that Mrs Johnson was long dead and his heart clenched tightly in his chest for a moment before he hardened it and snarled at her.

"I'm getting sick of listening to you talk, just get on with it already."

"Dean, Dean," she shook her head at him "always so quick to throw your life away. Well okay then."

Sam felt the crushing weight holding him to the wall let go and he slumped down. His right hand screamed in pain as it took some of his weight. He tried to keep his feet and stood there swaying dangerously.

His brother's agonised screams drew his attention back to the stage.

Dean hung by his wrists, writhing in agony as some unseen force attacked him.

Sam watched in horror as blood began to stream from Dean's eyes, ears, nose and mouth. His screams turned into tortured gurgling sounds as he started to choke on his own blood.

"DEAN" Sam screamed and heard several echoing screams from his right where the students still sat, all absolutely terrified as they watched Dean being torn apart from the inside.

Sam looked down at his hand and the screwdriver that still kept him pinned to the wall, helpless. Gritting his teeth in determination he reached across with his left hand and grasped the ridged handle of the tool tightly. Just this slight movement made him gasp in pain, but he ignored it and with one fluid movement pulled the screwdriver away from the wall and all the way out of his hand. He slumped to the floor gasping as the pain threatened to make him black out.

As the dark started to close in he heard his brother gasp weakly " I'm sorry Sammy" he opened his eyes to watch as Dean's head slumped forward onto his chest.

Sam took a deep breath and without stopping to think, he was acting purely on instinct now, rose to his feet. Ignoring every pain in his body he walked forward, only stopping to grab something from the pile of supplies on the floor. He started to run and without breaking stride leapt onto the stage and headed straight for Heidi.

She heard him coming a second too late. Heidi screamed in terror as she saw him swing the machete at her, his eyes hard and cold. The scream was cut off abruptly as the sickening sound of blade hitting flesh echoed through the theatre.

Snsnsnsnsnsnsnsnsn

A/N: I know this one's short but I really wanted one last cliff hanger. You know what that means don't you,? One more chapter and I'm all done. Sighs of relief all round.


	10. Chapter 10

DISCLAIMER: No I don't own them. I did borrow them for awhile (is it borrowing if you don't ask permission?). Now I'm done playing I'll give them back, not too badly damaged I hope. Patch them up for me I may want to borrow them again in the future.

SPOILERS: Possibly everything.

A/N: Just wanted to say thank you to everyone who stuck with this. It is my second ever fan fic and I feel I may have rushed it in places in my excitement. Hopefully it didn't come out too bad.

A/N 2: Oh my god I have never gone back and forth over a chapter as much as this one. It will be a relief to post it, so I can stop picking at it.

Chapter Ten

Heidi stopped screaming in shock as the machete cleaved straight through flesh and bone and severed her arm just below the elbow. The much sought after tattoo was clearly visible on the pale white flesh of the amputated limb. She raised her eyes to meet Sam's and opened her mouth to say something before her eyes rolled up in her head and she fainted. Sam didn't even bother to try and catch her,he let her fall to the ground with a solid thump. Blood started to pool around the stump of her arm and Sam knew that if she didn't get medical attention soon she would probably bleed out. Shrugging in indifference he turned to where his brother hung, unmoving from the rafters.

"Dean" he almost whispered the word, afraid that he was too late. Blood coated the front of Dean's shirt, it was an all too familiar sight. He reached a hand up tentatively to Dean's throat and let out a shaky breath of relief when he immediately found a pulse. It was a little fast, but still surprisingly steady.

"Dean" he said again, a little louder this time and was rewarded with a soft groan from his brother.

"Oh my god" a voice came from behind him and he turned to find that all of the kids were stood on the stage, looking between the two brothers, and their teacher, who lay motionless on the floor.

Sam felt a pang of guilt that they had had to see all of this, god knows how much something like this could screw up a teenager's mind. The guilt lessened somewhat when he heard the next comment.

"That was awesome."

Sam raised his eyebrows at Jake, the one who had just spoken and then shrugged. Maybe they'd be okay after all.

"Is she dead?" Lana asked looking down at Heidi, but still keeping a safe distance.

Bobby hesitantly knelt down by his teachers side, half expecting her to leap up and grab him by the throat, like all good horror movies said she would.

She didn't.

"No, she's still breathing." he said a moment later. "Has someone got a belt so I can tie this off." he pointed to the bloody stump off her arm, a look of disgust on his face. Jake quickly pulled his belt off and handed it to the other boy.

Sam turned his attention back to Dean to find him looking back at him, his hazel-green eyes cloudy with pain.

"Sammy" Dean rasped out.

"Hey Dean it's okay. I'm going to get you down" Sam reassured his brother. He reached up and started to cut through the ropes with the still bloody machete. As the ropes finally gave way Sam dropped the machete and caught Dean before he could fall too far.

Dean grunted in pain as the pressure was released from his arms and he slumped forward into his brother's arms. Sam gently lowered the other man to the floor, suppressing a grimace of pain as he caught his right wrist on the floor.

Sam lowered himself to the floor, beside Dean, and the two of them sat there for a minute, leaning against each other. Dean took some slow deep breaths and felt some of the pain lessen a bit.

"Is she dead" he couldn't bring himself to look over at where she lay.

"No" Sam told him.

"What about the Githra?"

"I think it's gone." Sam reassured him." She doesn't have the tattoo anymore and it didn't get to finish so I think that's it, game over."

"Well let's hope so. What are we going to do with her now?"

"If the other cases are anything to go by when she finally wakes up, she's not going to be very sane., not that she was stable before. She'll probably end up locked away somewhere."

"Sorry about all this Sammy" Dean said after a moment of silence.

"What?" the anger in Sam's voice startled him for a minute and he found himself flinching away from him in surprise. "You're not seriously apologizing for this are you?"

"She was supposed to be my friend, I shouldn't have trusted her. I should have known that she wanted something else."

Sam's heart almost broke hearing this. Dean trusted so few people and she'd just ruined one of the few friendships that he'd probably ever had. He could count on the fingers of one hand the number of people Dean considered friends. Of course right now that would have to be his left hand, the other one hurt wat too much.

"You know I don't think she was always bad" he offered. " I think that this stuff just changed her.She made some wrong decisions, but they we're her to make." Sam really hoped Dean was taking all this in." She wasn't the same woman you knew all those years ago. It doesn't mean that none of it back then was real, you know?"

"Maybe" Dean said but Sam could tell that he didn't really believe it. He watched as Dean put his head back and gave a weary sigh.

"Are you okay?" Sam asked.

"I will be." Dean offered. "So you really cut off her hand then?"

"Yeah , what was it you said? Payback's a bitch." he chuckled.

"Shit, your hand" Dean suddenly remembered the sickening site of a screwdriver impaling his brother's hand.

"It's okay." Sam said trying to keep it out of sight of his brother.

"Sam" Dean growled and Sam reluctantly held it out so Dean could look at it. Dean gasped when he saw the swollen bloody mess. He reached out and gently moved it about so he could get a better look at it." Son of a bitch" he hissed as he held it up to the light.

"It's not too bad" Sam tried to dismiss it.

"Not too bad" Dean almost choked on the words. " I can see through your hand, I'd say that qualifies as pretty damn bad."

"Could have been worse." Sam said, the memory of Dean's head sagging forward as blood dripped from his chin came to mind.

"What do we do now?" Jake asked drawing the brothers attention back to where the teenagers stood.

"Well you wait until we've got out of here and then you call the police." Dean told him, taking charge of the situation. Jake nodded.

"What do we tell them?"

Dean looked across at Sam not sure what to say.

"Tell them Mrs Johnson went nuts, locked you all in here and then made you watch as she cut off her own hand." Sam smiled up at them reassuringly.

"Oh okay" Jake said, but he looked unconvinced.

"What about you guys?" Beck asked looking at the two of them in concern.

"Well first thing we need to do is get out of town, then I think we'll find a hospital."

Dean saw that Sam was about to argue that " No arguments Sam that hand needs to be looked at. "Sam nodded to show he understood.

"You know all those things she said, about you dying and going to hell and stuff. That wasn't true was it?" Celia asked her eyes wide with fear.

"Not if I have anything to say about it." Sam told her as he climbed to his feet and extended his good arm to help Dean up.

Dean let Sam pull him to his feet and before he let go he patted him on the shoulder and gave him a look that said he'd heard him, he wasn't sure if he believed it was possible but he wanted Sam to have that little bit of hope, for now at least.

"You know what I said before, about not being able to spend that much time with my brother?" Stephanie was speaking to Sam now." I think if I had a brother like yours I might change my mind."

Dean grinned at this compliment and said to Sam " See what did I tell you, I'm an awesome big brother."

"You have your moments." Sam grinned back. All the things that Heidi had revealed were swirling around inside his mind right now. He'd always known that Dean had done a lot for him over the years, he wasn't stupid. He just never realised just how much Dean had kept to himself. Even this woman, who Sam hadn't even known existed, seemed to know more about his brother than he did. He was determined that he was going to change that. He was going to try to be there for his brother as much as Dean had been there for him all these years. Dean had to know he was appreciated.

The two of them made their way carefully off the stage, an arm around each others shoulders, unsure who was exactly holding who up at the moment. They reached the spot where Sam had spilt all their supplies out on the floor and stopped dead. Sam looked at Dean who looked back at him and said.

"You dropped 'em , you can pick them up."

Sam sighed at this and wearily picked up the duffle bag. Jake ran forward and started to pass the stuff on the floor up to him. He passed the handguns and shotguns over last, his gaze lingering over them longingly. Seeing the small boy handling the weapons scared Dean for a minute, then he remembered how much younger him and Sam had been when they'd learnt to shoot. Funny how when it came to other kids, he wanted them to be able to hold onto their innocence for as long as possible, but he never gave his own loss much thought.

"What about the hand?" Dean realised they'd forgot something.

"I told you it's not too bad." Sam frowned.

"Not your hand, princess" Dean snapped. "Her hand" he indicated with his head where the severed limb sat near the edge of the stage.

"What about it?"

"If we leave it here they might be able to sew it back on. Who knows what that might mean." Dean explained wearily.

"Damn, you're right" Sam didn't notice Dean roll his eyes at this. " I guess we should salt and burn it."

"Just chuck it in the bag for now, we'll get to it later."

"You chuck it in the bag." Sam wrinkled his nose in disgust.

"Let me get this right you didn't have a problem cutting it off, but now you don't want to touch it." Dean was incredulous.

"No. It's just..." Sam's excuse was cut off when Celia walked over holdng the hand and dropped it into the bag. Dean looked at her in amazement before saying to Sam, making sure it was loud enough for Celia to hear,"that is one cool chick." Celia blushed bright red at the compliment but Sam saw the smile that tugged at the corner of her lip. Dean acted the jerk sometimes but it was moments like this that Sam felt showed the real Dean, a brother he was immensly proud of. He slung the bag over his shoulder before Dean could insist he be the one to carry it.

Lana ran ahead and opened the now, unsurprisingly, unlocked door. She stuck her head out into the hall before turning and saying." It must be really late, there's no-one about now."

"Good" Dean said not sure if he could explain away the blood that coated his entire front.

"Are you guys going to be alright?" Dean asked the group as they stood huddled in the doorway watching the brothers leave.

"I think so, thanks to you two." Bobby said and the others nodded to show they agreed with this statement.

"Thank you so much." Beck gushed and rushed forward to kiss Dean on the cheek.

"Er, you're welcome." Dean said self-consciously and Sam thought he could detect a hint of a blush on his brother's otherwise too pale cheeks.

Trying hard to hide his grin Sam nodded at the group and steered his brother away and in the direction of the car park.

A few moments later they both sank gratefully into the welcoming embrace of the Impala's front seat. Dean grunted in pain as the fire in his side flared up again, god he wanted to go to sleep. Nice deep, dreamless sleep where he wouldn't have to deal with the thoughts doing battle inside his mind.

Dean as usual insisted that he drove, there was no way Sam could drive with his bad hand, so despite his own injuries Dean was still the better choice. Plus no way was Dean letting him get his bloody hand all over the steering wheel. Dean didn't even bother to turn the radio on, his head was performing it's very own drum solo right now. One look at the way Sam was painfully squinting at the sun told him he wasn't the only one in need of the quiet. Of course leaving the radio off came with it's own risks, Sam would probably see it as an invitation to _talk_.

"I meant to ask you something about Mrs Johnson." Sam asked as Dean started the engine.

Dean sighed, here we go, he thought.

"Back then, you and her, you never…?" he left the sentence hanging.

"Never what?" Dean was confused, where the hell was Sam going with this.

"You know?" Sam raised his eyebrows at Dean suggestively.

Dean frowned and then realisation dawned." Dude you're sick." he shook his head in disgust.

"Sorry it's just…"

"Just what Sam."

"Nothing." Sam decided to let it drop before he offended his brother anymore.

Dean put the car in drive and taking it much slower than he normally did, pulled out of the parking lot.

The road led them past the school's sports field and despite how rough he was feeling Dean couldn't help admiring the sight of the cheerleaders practising.

Sam saw the look in his brothers eye." You've got a dirty mind Dean."

Dean turned to him, a big smile all over his face and said." No Sammy you're wrong, I'm pure remember."

Sam snorted in laughter and Dean pressed his foot down a little harder on the accelerator. He looked in the rear-view mirror as the school faded behind him and couldn't help a sigh of relief as it finally faded from view.

Snsnsnsnsnsnsnsnsn

A/N: Done and dusted. I hope you all enjoyed it. Thanks to everyone who stuck with it all the way, especially those of you who reviewed. I think I'm going to take a breather now and read some of the other fantastic stories that are on this site. I've got another story in my head that I'm just itching to write but I think I might take my time with that one a bit. Please review and let me know what you thought. Thanks again.


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